Heavenly Serbia: From Myth to Genocide

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NYU Press, 1999 M03 1 - 256 pages

Traces Serbia's nationalist and expansionist impulses to the legendary battle of Kosovo in 1389

As violence and turmoil continue to define the former Yugoslavia, basic questions remain unanswered: What are the forces behind the Serbian expansionist drive that has brought death and destruction to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo? How did the Serbs rationalize, and rally support for, this genocidal activity?

Heavenly Serbia traces Serbia's nationalist and expansionist impulses to the legendary battle of Kosovo in 1389. Anzulovic shows how the myth of "Heavenly Serbia" developed to help the Serbs endure foreign domination, explaining their military defeat and the loss of their medieval state by emphasizing their own moral superiority over military victory. Heavenly Serbia shows how this myth resulted in an aggressive nationalist ideology which has triumphed in the late twentieth century and marginalized those Serbs who strive for the establishment of a civil society.

Author interview with CNN: http://www.cnn.com/chat/transcripts/branimir_chat.html

From inside the book

Contents

Pagan War
A Vicious Circle of Lies and Fears
The Outsiders MythCalculations
Conclusion
Copyright

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About the author (1999)

Branimir Anzulovic was born in Zagreb Croatia. He has a degree in philosophy from the University of Zagreb, and a doctorate in comparative literature from Indiana University. He has taught at Prescott College and Indiana University, and worked in the Yugoslav service of the Voice of America in Washington, D.C. He is now an independent researcher residing in Vienna, Virginia. Among his publications are theater and film reviews, and essays in cultural history and literary criticism.

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